Drezdenko (; german: Driesen) is a town in western

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, in

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

, in Strzelce-Drezdenko County. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,804.

History

Dobrogost wraz z bracmi skladaja hold krolowi Kazimierzowi

The area was a site of a border fort of the medieval Polish state. During the reign of

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

it was raised to the rank of a

castellany A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

. During the period of feudal fragmentation of Poland it was initially part of the

Duchy of Greater Poland The Duchy of Greater Poland was a district principality in Greater Poland that was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation started by the testament of ...

and then subject of fighting between the Duchy and the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

, which took control of it after 1296. It was sold by the Brandenburgians to the Monastic Order of the Teutonic Knights in 1317, under the authority of the knights Burkhard and Heinrich von der Osten. However, in 1365 it became part of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

, during the rule of King

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

, to be lost again to the Teutonic Knights in 1408. The town was neglected by the Teutonic Knights, the castle burned down, and parts of the town walls collapsed. In 1455, after the Thirteen Years' War broke out, the Knights sold it back to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland. Polish King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

still made peaceful efforts to regain the city, but to no avail. In 1605 the town was transformed into a fortress, which during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

was besieged by the Swedes, who captured in 1639 and held it until 1650.''Historyczne opisanie powstania, rozwoju i przejęcia miasta Drezdenka'' (in Polish)
/ref> In 1662 the town suffered a fire. In 1701 it became part of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

, from 1758 to 1762, the town was occupied by the Russians, who imposed high contributions on the inhabitants. As a result, some of the residents escaped, some were executed, and the Russians burned some of the buildings. A typhus epidemic also broke out. After the war, the destroyed parts of the fortifications were dismantled and the town was repopulated by settlers from

, the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

and German states. After repopulation and the arrival of merchants from

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, the town prospered as a trade center. In 1775 the town received a privilege from the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, incl ...

, allowing the sale of foreign

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

fabrics to Poland. Other goods were also sold there, including oxen from Poland,

Hungarian wine Hungarian wine has a history dating back to the Kingdom of Hungary. Outside Hungary, the best-known wines are the white dessert wine Tokaji aszú (particularly in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia) and the red wine Bull's Blood of Eger (Egri ...

and colonial products. Driesen

During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

French troops were stationed in the town. In 1831, several columns of Polish officers and soldiers marched through the town, fleeing the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...

of Poland after the failed November Uprising. From 1871 to 1945 the town was part of Germany. After Poland regained independence after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Polish-German border ran nearby, leaving the town on the German side. In the interwar period, the local economy weakened, many residents emigrated to work in western Germany. In addition, attempts to Germanize the Polish population intensified, as a result of which some left for

. Economic growth occurred in connection with the militarization of Germany by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

in the 1930s, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

many forced laborers, mostly Poles, were brought to the town. After the war the town became again part of Poland, in accordance to the

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...

Notable people

* Adam Krieger (1634–1666), German composer *

Karl Ludwig Hencke Karl Ludwig Hencke (8 April 1793 – 21 September 1866) was a German amateur astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. He is sometimes confused with Johann Franz Encke, another German astronomer. Biography Hencke was born in Driesen, Branden ...

(1793–1866), German astronomer * Theodor Schönemann (1812–1868), German mathematician *

Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum (28 December 1828 – 15 April 1899) was a German psychiatrist. Life and career In 1855 he received his medical doctorate at Berlin, and subsequently worked as a physician at the mental asylum in Wehlau. For a period he wa ...

(1828–1899), German psychiatrist * Jacek Paczkowski (born 1981), Polish footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Drezdenko.

Gallery

File:Drezdenko, railway station.jpg, The railway station from 1857 File:Drezdenko, town hall.jpg, The Town Hall from 1884 File:Drezdenko, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.jpg, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, built in 1914 File:Drezdenko, Church of The Transfiguration.jpg, Church of The Transfiguration, built in 1898–1902 File:Drezdenko, the palace.jpg, The baroque palace from about 1766, at present the seat of the Junior High School File:Drezdenko, primary school n.1.jpg, Primary school N.1., built in 1903–1904 originally as a post office

References

External links

Official town webpageJewish Community in Drezdenko
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Strzelce-Drezdenko County Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship